Flanders - Belgium
Flanders is the northern region of Belgium. It covers an area of 13 521 km² and counts approximately 6.35 million inhabitants. The region has a very high population density (475 inhabitants per km²) which is more than four times the average density of the European Union. Only 7% of the area is rural and 2.5% of the population lives in the rural area. The average age of farmers is more than 50 years (only 5% of farmers are younger than 35 years). Few farmers have a successor. Young farmers suffer from a lack of funds when starting up and therefore need some support.
The Flemish countryside is highly urbanised with a very fragmented landscape and strong links between countryside and cities. From a geographical, functional and cultural point of view, rural and urban areas are increasingly interlinked. Forests and nature cover a mere 1 850 km². Agricultural land comprises 6 230 km² out of which 70% is arable. Meadows, pasturelands and fodder crops account for 56% of the total area. Representing a regional share of 36 to 50% of the utilised agricultural area, grasslands are a dominant land feature of the rural landscape. The agricultural land is 36% owned, the rest is on lease. With high land pressures, agriculture in Flanders (Belgium) is highly industrialised. The largest portion is taken by intensive sectors such as pig breeding, poultry and dairy farming, horticulture and ornamental plant culture. Farming in Flanders is intensive, with high yields per hectare. Introduction This is inevitably linked to higher consumption of fertilisers and plant protection products, negative impacts on soil and water quality, and biodiversity loss. Horticulture, comprising fruit, vegetables and potatoes, have increasingly suffered from the effects of adverse weather conditions.
With more remote sensing data becoming freely available and at an increasing spatial and temporal resolution, a new era of different process-based modelling and monitoring methods can help elucidate the challenges of sustainable intensification of rural landscapes. Climate resilient landscapes offer opportunities for agricultural production, biomass production, carbon sequestration and water use efficiency.
The overall ambition is to create sustainable climate resilient productive landscapes, balancing agricultural intensification with environmental concerns and climate resilience.
A set of challenges have been identified, and will be updated according to a “monitoring – understanding – adjustment” cycle in a co-creation with the identified stakeholders. The methodologies developed in the PoliRural project relate to a cascade of global megatrends to relevant regional trends and to policy options in an explicit geo-referenced framework. The PoliRural tools developed will be tested and implemented in the Flanders’ region to face rural challenges related to:
The open space is under increasing pressure from urbanisation and therefore soil sealing. The trend to ‘seal soils under building materials’ is in Flanders of major concern. Landscapes are increasingly being fragmented.
Agriculture is severely affected by the water issue, with increased risks of drought, flooding, and soil erosion. There is a need to transform the tension between intensive farming, water consumption and soil care into a collaboration for a new climate resilient production landscape.
How could the many nature reserves and heritage landscapes in Flanders, be safeguarded in a changing climate and under high pressures of land use? Can these landscapes expand into regional parks of urbanised Flanders?
How could a city and rural area be mutually reinforcing and supportive? Particularly in the urban fringes with fertile farmland, short-supply-chain farming is becoming increasingly more important. How could food production be integrated in the distribution in spatial terms in the city?
The major question to be answered is how farmers and villagers can be supported to develop their businesses, remain compliant with environmental concerns, improve climate resilience and manage the highly valued rural landscape of Flanders. Remote Sensing and geomatics technology can deliver the first geo-located insights to help develop and subsequently monitor new policy options and business strategies. In addition, global and regional trend analysis can pave the way to promote new business models that can support rural communities with their activities.
Progress bar can help orient the user in terms of what the pilot was doing, what is happening now and what will happen in the future. While the structure of the bar will be the same for all pilots, its content will differ from pilot to pilot. A dynamic front end with a predetermined colour scheme can be used to differentiate past, present and future, like in the graphic below.
As part of the Polirural project, information on individual entrance case studies and other data from pilot regions will be published in the Atlas. The Atlas of the Best Practices visualizes relevant cases on a map and provides easily accessible information to inform and inspire other stakeholders. Best practices and pilot examples are collected by project project partners and there is a need to identify, synthesize, share and present individual examples and provide opportunities for new paths and other subjects.
We have a cattle farm with Belgian Blue and Black Angus cattle. Since November 2019 we have started selling our own farm meat. Since March 2020, this has grown into a concept of a drive-in, open-air shop, and together with fellow farmers we offer more products.
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CamperStops is a platform where “camper guest companies” (agricultural companies, wine growers etc.) invite people with a camper to spend a maximum of 24 hours on their site with the intention that they buy their products.
Read more...Meet the Flanders Pilot team!
VITO
Belgium pilot Leader
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement Nº 818496.
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